Teams: Popps: ‘A’ Terry Allington, John Davenport, and Alan Wood
Suma: David Blackburn, Brian Chapman, Derek Harwood.

After their successful winter season, Popps ‘A’ were brought down to earth after this defeat by Suma.

In the first set, Terry A and David Blackburn set the standard with a marathon which lasted an hour. A long, pushing game ended with David winning in four games. The umpire was given three cheers after the final point!

The second set brought to the table John Davenport, Popp’s new loan signing from Huddersfield. John is a tall athletic young man, with a fine all-round game. He faced a determined Brian Chapman with his mixture of backspin and flat topspin. John played well to win in five games.

Alan Woods is Popps most improved player in my view, but in the third set he faced the experienced Derek Harwood, who uses strange rubbers on his bat to fool you with his spin. Alan showed great fighting spirit to force a fifth game, but Derek produced some great forehand shots to give Suma a 2-1 lead.

The way the match was being played it seemed likely to finish at midnight so it was decided to play on two tables. The Suma team played with great confidence now and Popps were always second best. The Popps team gained some consolation, when Suma admitted this was one of their hardest matches.

This had been another enjoyable match, and I am sure we can only improve by playing the better second division sides.